Kenta Yamazaki | Keitaro Kamo "Just Right Entrance"
Keitaro Kamo's play "Just Right Entrance" is an improvisational work that directly stages the trial-and-error process among the performers.Summary
Keitaro Kamo's work, "Just Right Entrance" (Composition/Direction: Keitaro Kamo), portrays the trial-and-error process of performers searching for a "just right entrance" to the "other," conceptualized as an "entrance to the world or the future." Kamo, a Fukuoka-based playwright, is exploring the sustainability of theater by minimizing costs and employing a method where performers act as themselves ("someone who is also me") rather than playing a character ("someone who is not me"). This approach prioritizes audience agency and aims to forgo the power of "showing" in order to maintain quality regardless of the skill level of the limited professional actors in the region. The performance was largely improvisational, with content varying each time, guided by shared "goals/policies" written on a whiteboard and a workshop where performers wore papers detailing images they did not want others to associate with them stuck to their foreheads. While these elements provided hooks for the audience to stay engaged, the reviewer experienced significant discomfort when a performer expressed raw emotion, highlighting a potential vulnerability in how the safety established among performers translates when opened up to the audience. The review concludes that while Kamo's exploration of theatrical sustainability is noteworthy, designing the relationship with the audience is a critical issue for long-term viability.
(Source：artscape)